An enterprise network architect is migrating a primary data center from a traditional 3-Tier (Access-Aggregation-Core) hierarchy to a 2-Tier Spine-Leaf (Clos) architecture to better handle high-volume East-West microservices traffic. Which TWO statements correctly describe the design rules and operational characteristics of this Spine-Leaf topology? (Choose two.)
- Every leaf switch connects to every spine switch, but leaf switches do not connect directly to other leaf switches.Answer
- Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing is leveraged across Layer 3 links to utilize all available bandwidth concurrently between leaf and spine switches.Answer
- CSpine switches operate as Layer 2 switches that rely on Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to block redundant uplinks and isolate broadcast domains.
- DEnabling STP PortFast on interswitch trunk links between leaf and spine switches is recommended to eliminate convergence delays when adding new switches.
Answer
The correct statements are that every leaf switch connects to every spine switch without direct leaf-to-leaf connections, and that Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing is utilized to load-balance traffic across all available links.
In a 2-Tier Spine-Leaf design, the fabric forms a bipartite graph where every leaf switch connects to every spine switch, with no direct connections between switches of the same tier. Traffic between leaves passes through spine switches using Layer 3 routing and Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP), enabling deterministic low-latency, active-active forwarding across all available links.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Spine-Leaf (Clos) Topology Connectivity Rules and ECMP Forwarding
Estimated Time:2m 0s